Animal Production

Livestock Production

The sub-directorate Animal Production (Policies and Programmes) is made of the fields of Aquaculture, Dairy, Large Stock, Monogastric, Small Stock, Veld, Forage and Widelife Ranching. The persons responsible for each field under the supervision of the Senior Specialist are listed in the structure.

The core functions of each of these fields are to:

The core functions of each of these fields are to:

To provide information and advice on production to internal and external clients.

To co-ordinate production data inputs for country reports to SADC and to the FAO

To Coordinate the various fields activities such as National Working Groups

Liaison within stakeholders such as Provincial Departments of Agriculture, producer organizations and others

To develop technical info packs in the form of manuals, production guideline etc.

Identify potential projects for the resource poor and new entrant farming sector

Dairy farming in SA focuses on raising female cattle for long-term production of milk which may be either processed on-site or transported to a dairy for processing and eventual retail sale. Most dairy farms sell the male calves borne by their cows, usually for veal production, rather than raising non-milk-producing stock. Many dairy farms also grow their own feed, typically including corn, alfalfa and hay. This is fed directly to the cows, or stored as silage for use during the winter season. Additional dietary supplements are added to the feed to increase quality milk production.

They are different breeds of dairy cattle that are farmed with in SA. The most popular breeds are the Holstein (Friesland), the Jersey, and the Ayrshire, but there are other breeds like the Guernsey, Milk Shorthorn, S.A. Dairy Swiss, Dexter, and the Simmentaler which are less popular in S.African dairy farming.

Large Stock

In the context of AP, large stock refers to equine and beef cattle
In the context of AP, large stock comprises of beef cattle and equine (donkeys, horses and mules). Beef cattle production was part of all community throughout the world dated centuries back. Equines also play important role as working and performing animals. Donkeys play vital role in the lives of most rural community as a means of transport, while horses are mainly used in as performing animals in the multimillions horse racing industry.
Beef cattle producers vary from highly sophisticated commercial (who rely on high technology) to communal subsistence producers (who rely on indigenous knowledge and appropriate technology). Three major groups of beef cattle farmers therefore co-exist in South Africa . These groups consist of:

The commercial beef producer (mostly white farmers), where production is relatively high and comparable with developed countries

The emerging black beef cattle farmer, who own or lease land.

The communal beef cattle farmer, who run his cattle on communal grazing land.

Current status of beef cattle

TABLE 2.1 : Estimated Cattle Numbers in the RSA (Thousands – 2002)

Province

Total Cattle

Commercial Dairy

Beef and Dual Purpose

Communal

Eastern Cape

3 197 (22.9)*

315 (19.8)

612 ( 9.2)

2270 (40.0)

Free State

2 320 (16.6)

293 (18.4)

1962 (29.4)

65 ( 1.1)

Gauteng

276 ( 2.0)

75 ( 4.7)

201 ( 3.0)

N/A

KwaZulu Natal

2 805 (20.1)

318 (20.0)

955 (14.3)

1532 (26.9)

Limpopo

1 181 ( 8.5)

18 ( 1.0)

420 ( 6.3)

743 (13.0)

Mpumalanga

1 375 ( 9.8)

154 ( 9.7)

701 (10.5)

520 ( 9.1)

Northern Cape

491 ( 3.5)

25 ( 1.6)

466 ( 7.0)

N/A

North West

1 816 (13.0)

114 ( 7.2)

1 154 (17.3)

548 ( 9.6)

Western Cape

501 ( 3.6)*

280 (17.6)

203 ( 3.0)

18 ( 0.3)

TOTAL

13 964

1 592

6 674

5 696

Percentages are presented in brackets

Performance trends regarding beef cattle production between commercial and communal.